Happy New Year And Reflections On 2013

A lot of things achieved last year! Which led me to write this about five days ago and then schedule it so I could sleep in this morning. Although I’ll probably have stayed up late anyway watching Serenity regardless.

Firstly, a few highlights:

ScienceRewired’s BigSci13 – Big Science Communication Summit. Huge thanks to Ande Gregson and Kendall Benton and everyone involved in the 2013 event, which has inspired me to reach beyond the usual skeptic-circles and look into outreach and accountability. I honestly wouldn’t have started on this journey of working at events as a social media coordinator if it weren’t for them. This photo was taken at the Sydney BigSci13 event, held from 6th & 7th June at the UNSW, Scientia Conference & Events Centre. I think it’s been greatly influential on the science communication community in Australia and has encouraged other events to lift their game significantly.

That’s me with my hard-working laptop, part of a team documenting the event online. I’m really so grateful to all the social media team for all their work too, it wouldn’t have been half as much fun without you all!

The New Zealand Skeptics and the 2013 convention. This isn’t the BEST photo I took of the event, but it’s one that demonstrates all the buzz that was at the start of the New Zealand Skeptics convention. I still have a whole bunch of photos and even video from that time that I have to organise, and I’m sure I still owe emails… but it’s thanks to folk like Gold. And Gold. Did I mention Gold? – and all the committee and the fellow presenters like Dr Pamela Gay and Aimee Whitcroft, Dr Siouxsie Wiles, Elf Eldridge (thanks for the internet access!!), Vicki Hyde (who has inspired me even more to go beyond “preaching to the choir” in 2014) and a whole bunch of folk that are just fantastic. I was particularly proud to be on a panel with Dr Gay and talk about the future of skepticism, of the shocking treatment of great skeptics like Dr Karen Stollznow and how we can all lift our game when it comes to helping each other and being mindful of minority voices.

Oh, and the seal that was on the foreshore that morning that Gold and Pamela and I ran off to see the sun rise over Lambton Harbour, in Wellington. Having a cold nose has never been so much fun. And seeing Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra was just a wonderful gift that rounded off a brilliant time in New Zealand with unforgettable friends.

In comparison, I honestly don’t feel I achieved much for local skepticism apart from promoting touring events on the podcast, like the Sean Faircloth tour - but I continue to keep up the Perth Skeptics Meetup groupand many thanks to everyone who goes to events and organises events via that site, especially Sarah, Nathan, Paul, Ash and Madge. But I did get one opportunity…

TEDXPerth. This probably constitutes my one local big-promotion of skeptical ideas to a general audience in my town. If it wasn’t for my awesome coach, Luke Copley, I wouldn’t have had the courage to stand up on the stage, let alone present on superstitions.

I even got to visit the ABC studios to talk about my speech on the afternoon show, which was a great treat in terms of seeing behind the scenes of a station. When the video of my TEDxPerth presentation is available, I’ll post it online – but this memory in the photo is one that will stick with me from that time – getting to meet local listeners to the podcast (although the baby probably doesn’t have a ipod let alone knows what “skeptic” means) who came along to TEDxPerth!

Thanks to everyone who came along, and to the organisers of TEDxPerth – and to my dear friend M who listened along with the live broadcast and has always been an ear (and an encouragement) throughout all the events I took part in.

I completed the 365 Days of Philosophy site, and although technical and time issues got in the way of doing the podcast, I plan on finishing that element very soon and working on consolidating the information collected over the year in some fashion. In other Philosophy and Ethics work, I contributed to a number of resources this year with some fantastic writers and I’m very glad that the exam for final year students went well.

Speaking of podcasting – tremendous thanks to everyone who allowed themselves to be interviewed this year; in total there were 26 episodes completed! It’s less than the 50 or so episodes completed in 2012, but back then I wasn’t a full-time college student. Thanks goes out to all the sponsors of the show, especially Gerry U, Robert W, Richard C and anyone who has donated money or sent a kind message to the show or posted a link online to the content I produce. Without the interviewees or the listeners, there just wouldn’t be a show – I’d probably just be teaching Romeo and Juliet for the five-hundredth time. At least I don’t podcast in blank verse.

I started making a booklist of what I’ve read this year and have decided to go on something like GoodReads in order to keep track of them in the future – some are book form and some were electronic – many are mentioned in this video:

Candy Girl – Diablo Cody (lost, brought again on iPad, then found it in the garden shed for some reason) Room – Emma Donoghue (lost, repurchased) Lolita – Nabokov (lost, repurchased) The Secret History – Donna Tartt (brought again on iPad for travelling purposes) Girl With A One Track Mind – Abby Lee (lost, brought again on iPad) Special Topics in Calamity Physics – Marissha Pessel (brought again on iPad for travelling purposes) Possession – A.S Byatt (brought new one for a friend; then got it on iPad for travelling purposes) Dedication – Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin (lost, brought again on iPad) Divine Secrets of The Ya Ya Sisterhood (lost, brought again on iPad)

I probably forgot something along the way, but if you were a part of my getting through what turned out to be a busier year than expected – thank you. And I hope to catch up with more people and do more podcasting in 2014.

Kylie Sturgess is a Philosophy teacher, media and psychology student, blogger at Patheos and podcaster at Token Skeptic. She has conducted over a hundred interviews including artists, scientists, politicians and activists, worldwide. She’s the author of the ‘Curiouser and Curiouser‘ column at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry website and travels internationally lecturing on feminism, skepticism, and science.

Karen

Thank you for the recommendations of my books, not to mention some other titles I now need to check out!

About The Author

Kylie Sturgess is a Philosophy teacher, media and psychology student, blogger at Patheos and podcaster at Token Skeptic. She has conducted over a hundred interviews including artists, scientists, politicians and activists, worldwide.